Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to include Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire in his final squad for the European Championships despite both players struggling for fitness.
The England manager had previously insisted he would not take injured players to tournaments but admits he has backtracked on that position following the increase in squad size for this month’s tournament.
“I’ve picked up a squad that can cope without them,” Southgate said. “If we had 23, that might have been a different decision to make. We’ve got 26.
“So, rather than take maybe a couple of young players for the experience, for me it’s better to have two senior players who can add so much to the group, and if we can get them in a position to help on the field, then that’s only going to be beneficial for us.”
Maguire, the Manchester United captain, missed the final four games of the league season as well as the Europa League final with an ankle ligament injury while Liverpool skipper Henderson has been out since February with a groin problem.
Southgate refused to rule Henderson out of the opening group game against Croatia despite the player’s lack of match action but admitted the midfielder was extremely doubtful.
“I don’t think it would be fair to rule him out of it,” he said “But I think it’s clear to everyone how much football he has missed. The timelines are getting more difficult with each training session he might miss and to not have those match minutes tonight is a blow towards that.”
Southgate had more positive news about Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips. “He’s in full training, he’s got the complete strength,” he added. “It’s been a much cleaner injury than we might have feared at first, so that’s been a plus.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3cdD1h2
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